


Tandem

by ZedElla (Leviarty)



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Aliens Made Them Do It, M/M, Polyamory, Semi-Public Sex, Sentient Atlantis, Threesome - M/M/M, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-11 21:39:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4453349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leviarty/pseuds/ZedElla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s called Evan, and she loves him almost as quickly as she loved John.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I think I just wrote 1200 words of city porn?

Atlantis has been dying for as long as she can remember. Ten thousand years since her people abandoned her at the bottom of the ocean, left her there to die.

She feels the Astria Porta activate for the first time in millennia, long after she’s given up hope.

But the people that arrive are not her people, they are strangers with muddled DNA that looks like them, but doesn’t feel at all like them.

But then she feels him step through, and he feels like an old friend. He’s the one she’s been waiting for all this time. He walks through her control room, and she bows before him, lights up without a touch. Maybe she’s trying to impress him, maybe she’s just trying to tell him “I’m here. I’m alive!” and maybe “don’t leave me.”

She can feel others too, when she wants to, responds to them when they ask it of her, but she doesn’t love them, not like she loves him.

She cries out to him, begging him to hear her pleas. She is dying, still, and her desire to please him, to answer all of them, only speeds the process.

She feels herself drifting away, feels the ocean floor fall away, but she’s too far gone to feel the rush of it.

Later, when she wakes, she sees the night sky for the first time in what feels like forever.

Her heart aches.

The Terrans try to bring her back to life, but their generators are not the cells she is accustomed to. She can work with them, can pull enough energy to keep herself alive, to keep them all happy, but it’s not enough to do anything else. Not enough to protect him – them, if anything bad happens.

 

And then the worst thing happens.

She can sense the Wraith far in the distance, and it’s the first time they’ve drawn so near in recent memory. She screams at her people, begs them to listen, but they can’t hear her. She keeps screaming, until finally someone notices.

She thinks it might be too late.

 

She has learned to care for the people who have moved in, even learned to love some of them – the ones they call Carson and Rodney, and even some of the humans. But her love does not rival her love for _him_.

More people arrive. She longs for the feeling of people all around her, to have to energy to house and love them all, but she doesn’t. She can’t protect these people, and the more that arrive, the more people she will fail, will die because she can’t protect them from the coming threat.

The new people, though, are arrogant and forceful. She doesn’t think she will love them.

 

She feels the energy cell the moment it emerges, long before it’s made it into the chamber; she glows with anticipation. A single cell was not ideal, was not what she longed for, but it would do, would help her protect her people.

 

The first time he sits in the control chair, she thinks she might cry for joy, sing loud enough for the universe to hear. It’s not like when Carson sat down, because though she has come to love him, this seat was not made for him. This seat was John’s and John’s alone. Carson belonged elsewhere, but not here.

But she bends over backward for all of them, tries her hardest when Rodney tries to route her controls in with the controls of the Puddle Jumpers (the Ancients had call them something else, something crude, but she has taken to the names given by the Terrans, favors them), but in the end, she fails them, fails _him._

And he leaves.

The last thought he has before getting out of the chair, the last thought she can really hear, is a terrible one, one she can’t wrap her mind around. She cries out to him, begs him to come back, to stay, she’ll figure it out, make it work, just please _don’t_.

Her heart aches as he runs through the halls, toward the Jumper bay, and she thinks about how difficult she could make it for him, she could stall him with a dozen doors between here and there, can keep the bay doors closed tight.

She doesn’t though, because she recognizes that he is only trying to do the same as she is – protect her people. She has to let him do this, because if she doesn’t, they will all perish.

Her heart breaks.

 

But he returns, and for a moment she is angry with him, angry that he dare show his face after pulling a stunt like that, but her happiness clouds every ill thought she has toward him.

 

More people arrive, and at first she thinks they will be no better than the last group, but among them she finds a beacon of hope. He’s called Evan, and she loves him almost as quickly as she loved John.

When the danger passes, she lets herself embrace his presence, let’s herself enjoy the feeling as he runs his fingers along her walls. She hums to life under his touch.

She longs for the days she had more energy, longs for the ability to communicate with either of them. She wishes they would sit in the chairs, would take everything she has to offer them, but they stay away. She knows it’s a power issue, that they love her, don’t want her to die, and she knows the chairs are a significant drain. Still she yearns.

 

She learns to love them all, even the ones who can’t work her controls, can’t activate her minor systems, but it will never rival her love for John and Evan.

 

The next time John sits in the chair, she feels elation, and then fear. She feels everything he thinks, and he thinks this daring plan is possible, but she has doubts.

Still she gives him everything she has and more.

She flies.

Oh how she has missed the stars.

 

Its years before they find the second chair, and years more before they have the power to start working on it.

John sits in the new one, and it feels all wrong. This is not where he belongs.

John must feel it too, because no sooner had she begrudgingly allowed him access, he was sitting up.

With some coaxing, Evan agrees to try it out and _yes_ this is where he belongs.

 

The chairs are meant to be used in tandem, she tries to tell them. All four, working together. She doesn’t think they can hear her. They never can. She yells at them for hours.

 

Eventually, she trades yelling for soothing whispers, and maybe it finally works, because it’s the middle of the night and Evan and John roll out of their beds simultaneously. The dress in near perfect synchronicity, donning casual clothing – it’s somewhat standard for John, but she wishes Evan would dress down like this more often.

John heads down to the base of the main tower, while Evan takes a transporter to section four, neither aware of the other, neither entirely aware of themselves. She feels a little guilty, manipulating them in such a way, but as soon as they reach their destination, they’ll understand.

They sit down and she feels alive.


	2. Tandem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She doesn’t communicate the way we do, not in words or motions. She communicates in thoughts and acts. We’ve just been unable to interpret her.

Sheppard has sat in the chair many times, done many things with it, but this time felt different, felt… like someone else was there.

“Lorne?” he asked, aloud or in his mind he’s not sure.

“Yes, sir.”

And then all the etiquette fell away. John could feel him in his head, could feel so much. In an instant, he knew everything there is to know about Evan Lorne, knew him better than he’s ever known anyone. And Evan knew him. He thought it should be a bigger concern, having someone know every part of who he was, but instead it was a comfort, strange as it may have been.

“This is different,” Evan said. It sounded as clear as if he were standing right next to him. “Hmm. Someone is activating city wide communications.”

Rodney’s voice filtered in, sounding far away. “ _Colonel Sheppard, please get your ass out of bed and answer your radio_.”

John’s mouth twitched into a smile. “Go ahead, Rodney,” he said over the active comms. He could see Rodney through the city’s eyes, watched him running down the hall from his lab.

“ _How did you- nevermind. Someone has activated the chairs_.”

“I know; it’s me.”

“ _Hmm. Really? Because you may be god-like, but I’m certain that you can’t actually be in two places at once_.”

“Evan is here with me.” He could see Rodney struggle to match the name to a face, so he amended. “Major Lorne.”

“ _Okay, that’s… May I ask why_? _And also remind you that the chairs draw quite a lot of power_.”

“It’s okay,” Evan said.

“ _Just because we have two ZPMs doesn’t mean we can burn them out just because we feel like fooling around with the chairs_.”

“You don’t understand, Doctor.”

John understood.

“ _Then by all means, explain it to me_ ,” McKay said, growing ever more irritated. He jogged into the main chair room, and Sheppard looked at him with a smile.

“It’s not gonna be quick, or easy,” he said aloud. “But I think all our power problems are going to disappear.” He brought up a display of a ZPM, and then a large machine that the ZPM fit into. “We can recharge them.”

“Hmm… this is…” Rodney said, but doesn’t actually finish a thought. He drops to the base of the chair and connects his tablet. John focuses on pushing his information into its memory stores. “Okay, stop,” Rodney says. “This has limited memory.”

“Where did you find that?” John asked when a new image appeared in his mind. Rodney couldn’t see it, nor could he hear the other side of the conversation.

“I didn’t,” Lorne said. “She just… showed it to me.”

“What is it?” Rodney asked.

John disengaged from the chair. “There are two others.”

*

“I don’t understand what you two were doing in the first place,” McKay said over the briefing table an hour later.

John and Evan exchanged a look, and both shrugged.

“It’s hard to explain. I just woke up and knew I needed to be there,” Sheppard said.

“I didn’t even know what he was doing until I sat down. I think… I think the city was calling out to us.”

“You know how that sounds, right?” McKay said. “It sounds crazy.”

“No, he’s right,” John said. “It was like she wanted us there.”

“She’s not a she! She’s not even alive,” Rodney said.

“She is though,” John said. “She’s not a breathing sort of life. But she has thoughts and awareness.”

“She cares about all of us, wants us to live and be happy and find knowledge,” Lorne said.

Keller hummed. “I’m not saying I think you’re crazy-”

“I think you’re crazy,” Ronon interjected.

“But I would like to get you both in for a scan. Immediately.”

Sheppard nodded, then turned to the others. “In the meantime, send a couple teams out to work on the other two chairs. The one in section two is flooded, but doesn’t appear damaged. Section six might be more difficult.”

“I’d also like to make sure the ZPM charging facility is functional before we continue draining ours,” Rodney said.

“Agreed. Dismissed.”

Keller shot Sheppard a look that said he had better be in the infirmary within the hour, or there would be hell to pay.

Rodney lingered behind as the others filed out of the room. “Why the two of you?” he asked. “I mean, I’ve sat in the chair.”

“Maybe she just loves us more,” Lorne said, flashing a smile. He patted McKay on the shoulder before following Keller to the infirmary.

“I don’t know, Rodney. If I had to guess, I’d say she doesn’t think you’re suited to either of these chairs. I think she wants you in section two.”

“ _She_ wants,” Rodney repeated.

“Yes, Rodney, she does. I’m telling you, she’s alive. She doesn’t communicate the way we do, not in words or motions. She communicates in thoughts and acts. We’ve just been unable to interpret her.”

“Until now.”

“Until now.”

*

“So, what did you find?” Sheppard asked when Keller returned with their brainscans.

“We’ll, you’re both showing some mildly elevated brain activity, though I wouldn’t be so concerned if they weren’t so eerily similar.” She pulled the images up on the screen side by side. “Sheppard is on the left, Lorne is on the right. In particular, the hypothalamus and Wernike’s Area are show very high activity,” she said, pointing to the two brightest spots on the scan. “Normally I might say it could be associated with a particularly interesting day dream, but given what we know, and given that your scans are nearly identical… I’m requesting that you both restrict your Gate travel until we know more.”

John nodded. It wasn’t as though he went off-world much anymore, not since he’d taken command of Atlantis.

“And neither of you is to sit in one of those chairs without a member of my medical staff present.”

That, he felt, might have been a big much, but agreed anyway.

“Otherwise, I see no reason that you both can’t continue your regular duties. If you feel any headaches, or _anything_ out of the ordinary, come see me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Sheppard said, then turns on his heel to leave, Lorne right behind him.

“So this is…weird, right?” Lorne asked after a few minutes of walking side by side.

“Honestly, I’ve had weirder.”

“Right, I’ve read your files. So I’m going to take the liberty of blaming this on you – this kind of thing never happens to me.”

John laughed. “Alright, Evan, this time I’ll take that. Next time something weird happens, it’s all on you, though.”

They stopped at John’s door, and stared at one another for a long moment. Finally, John broke away, looking down at the base of the wall. He was breathing heavily, and so was Evan, like they’d been doing a whole lot more than just staring.

Only when John looked away did Evan realize just how close they were standing, and how his fingers had somehow been laced with John’s – he dropped his hand immediately and took a half step back, wondering just how long their ands hand been like that. “Sorry, John, I don’t know-”

And then they were kissing.

“Mm,” John hummed against his lips. “We really shouldn’t do this.” Out here. In the open. Where anyone can see. He momentarily forgot that he was the superior officer, and that they _really_ shouldn’t do this.

He pulled back and brought his thumb to his lips, perhaps in an attempt to stop it from happening again, but his lips were red and swollen, and he’d been half hard since he sat down in the chair two hours ago. So when the door opened behind him, instead of bidding Lorne a good day, he said “Do you wanna…” He moved his head to the side, a silent invitation.

Evan shook his head. “No, I should…” But whatever he should do was a lost cause, because he was in John’s room, and the door closed behind them, and they were kissing again.

 

A while later, they were horizontal on John’s bed, in a partial state of undress. They felt, just as much as heard, the door slide open, but it was a moment before either of them reacted. Evan was off him so fast that there was almost an audible crack as the air rushed to fill the space he left behind. John’s head fell back to his pillow, a hint of exasperation on his face.

“Sorry, I’ll just-” Rodney turned to leave them alone, but stoped just shy of the door.

“Rodney,” John asked, knowing that he wouldn’t have barged in if it wasn’t something important.

“I was… Well, looking for the two of you. I guess this explains why I couldn’t reach either of you on the radio.”

“Rodney,” John said again, and this time he was telling him to speed it up.

“Right, sorry, um. Zelenka’s team found the ZPM charging station. It’s not nearly as banged up as we expected. I thought you might like to-” he waved his hands emphatically, but somehow still communicating his meaning, to John at least. “I’ll just go now.”

“I’ll be there in five, Rodney,” he said, but whether Rodney heard it was anyone’s guess, because he was long gone. John turned to Evan, whose pants were back on, and his shirt halfway buttoned.

“I should go. Sir,” he added, forcing the word between them like a barrier. It worked like a charm, because Sheppard’s demeanor stiffened, and he gave a curt nod.

“Goodbye, Major.” And shit, this might have been his biggest fuckup in years, but he hardly had time to consider the possible ramifications.

He jumped out of bed as the door closed behind Lorne. He dressed quickly, then splashed some cold water on his face to snap himself out of whatever he was feeling.

*

Rodney, Radek, and a handful of scientists were in the ZPM room when he got there a few minutes later.

“Thanks for joining us, Colonel,” Rodney said, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

Next to him, there was a pile of dead ZPMs, and Sheppard didn’t notice just how much they’ve brought the city through until he saw how many they’d burned through.

“You have excellent timing,” Radek said. “We’re just about to hook one up.”

“And we’re sure this isn’t going to put the city at risk?” Sheppard asked.

“You tell me,” Rodney said. Sheppard narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Look, you’re the one who found this place, and as much as I _hate_ to admit it, you might actually know more about how it works than any of us do.”

“I’m surprised we only now found it, actually,” Radek said, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“This entire subsection has gone completely unexplored,” Rodney said, his level of annoyance growing.

“Yes, but you’d think we would have found some mention of it in the database.”

“It’s not like the Ancients left exceptionally good notes,” Rodney said.

“Not only that,” Sheppard said. “The database is way bigger than we previously calculated, and most of it is only accessible from the chairs.”

“But you’ve sat in the chair, many times.”

“Alone, yes, and usually with very specific goals in mind. But with a second person keyed into the mainframe, it’s a lot easier to just let the information fly.”

“Higher processing power,” Rodney said, nodding in understanding. “If we can get four people in, that ability to process will sky rocket. We’ll learn more than we ever thought possible. The advances we’ll make…”

“One step at a time, Rodney,” John said.

“Right,” he jumped up and went to work connecting one of the depleted ZPMs.

Sheppard leaned over the desk and watched as it lit up, pulsing slightly.

“All readings are in the green, for now,” Zelenka announced. “Nonetheless, we should continue to monitor.”

The scientists gave a cheer while Rodney sat down to begin calculations.

Half an hour later, after most of the scientists had left, he sat up and announced, “Sheppard was right, it’s going to be slow going. It will probably take close to a year to get one to full power. But, assuming we can halt the process partway, say, ten percent, we could seriously augment our power reserves, certainly enough to begin work on the other chairs.”

“That’s excellent, Rodney,” Sheppard said, surprising him.

“You’re still here?”

He nodded.

“Why? I mean, I thought you would have been off…” he waved his hand to finish the sentence; John interpreted it to mean that he thought he’d be off having gay sex with Lorne.

“Is think going to be a problem?” Sheppard asked. He hadn’t thought Rodney would be a bigot, but he’d been wrong before.

“No. No. Just, surprising is all. I didn’t think you were into…” Men.

“I’m into lots of things that might surprise you,” John said. Most of them, granted, weren’t likely to earn him a court marshal and dishonorable discharge.

“If you two would kindly continue this _extremely_ uncomfortable mating ritual somewhere else,” Radek said. “Some of us have actual work to take care of.”

John smiled at them and tapped the counter top. “I’ll leave you guys to it. Let me know if anything changes.” He walked toward the door, then turned back. “Hey, Rodney. How long do you suppose before we’ll be able to start using one?” he asked, though he’d already done the math.

“Assuming we can safely remove it early, and assuming my calculations are correct, which let’s be honest, they are, then we should only have to wait about 38 days.”

“Great.”

*

A couple days later, Lorne stopped by Sheppard’s office (they both still had to remind themselves not to think of it as Elizabeth’s office, even years, and three commanders later). “Can I have a moment, sir?” he asked.

“Of course, Major.”

Lorne stepped inside and the door slid closed behind him – something none of the previous commanders had even known was possible. “I just wanted to apologize for… what happened the other day.”

“Unnecessary, but accepted,” Sheppard said.

“Thank you sir, but it is necessary. I… took advantage of an unusual situation. I shouldn’t have.”

“There was no advantage taking,” Sheppard said. “I assure you, it was entirely mutual. We’re both adults, we both knew better, and yes, one of us should have put a stop to it, but nonetheless, it happened. I have no intentions of reporting you.”

“Nor do I, sir.”

“Good, then I think we’re on the same page. Now, if this is going to be a problem for you, you are more than welcome to put in for transfer-”

“No, sir. That won’t be necessary.”

“Good. I need you here. If there’s nothing else.”

“Thank you, sir,” he said again, then turned to leave.

“And, Major, this doesn’t have to be weird. What’s a couple hand jobs between friends?”

Lorne cracked a smile. “Yes, sir.”

*

Sheppard made it a point to never sit down with anyone in the mess hall that wasn’t Teyla, Ronon, or Rodney. He was the commander of Atlantis, and it took a while to learn, but that required that he keep some distance from his people. He allowed people to sit with him, welcomed it even, but never initiated anything himself. Meals were downtime, sacred space, not a place to make his subordinates feel uncomfortable.

He thought of all the commanding officers he’d had before Atlantis, and how he would never have dreamed of sitting down to eat with one of them. He hoped it was a sign that he was a good commander that he hardly ever ate alone.

“May I?” Lorne asked, nodding to the empty seat across from him.

“Of course,” John nodded.

They talked easily, got along well. They’d always been that way, he’d never had any difficulty getting along with Lorne, but it felt different now.

“Yes sir,” Lorne said, laughing at whatever joke he’d just finished telling. Sheppard felt more at ease than he had in a long time.

“You know, you can call me John. During downtime, at least.”

Lorne frowned and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” And, okay, Sheppard got that. Maybe if things hadn’t gone the way they had… but they had to keep some kind of barrier between them; ranks and sirs did an awfully good job of it.

“You two are acting weird,” Ronon said, sitting down next to Lorne, as Teyla slid into the seat next to Sheppard

“How so?” Lorne asked, a flush creeping into his cheeks. Sheppard thought they’d been doing a remarkable job of not acting weird. Not that he had a lot of experience with accidental sexual encounters with subordinates, but he thought things could have gone a lot worse.

“Well, you’ve just been sitting here, staring at each other since we walked in five minutes ago.”

“Not staring, we’ve been talking,” Sheppard said.

“No, you haven’t,” Teyla said.

Sheppard and Lorne exchanged a look, both confused.

_Have we been…_

_I guess we have_.

“Telepathy,” Lorne said aloud. “That’s new.” And they hadn’t even realized.

“Perhaps you should see Dr. Keller.”

*

Keller hummed as she looked at their most recent brain scans. It had been over a week since they’d sat down in the chair, since she’d taken the first scan.

“What’s the matter, doctor?” Sheppard asked.

“Well, you hypothalamus seems to have calmed down significantly, but this area,” she pointed at the bright spot on both their brains. “Is still very active. Now I’m not a neurologist, but that area is responsible for-”

“Communicating,” Lorne supplied. “Speech, understanding words and language.”

“Yes. And it’s possible, even probable that it’s linked with your sudden telepathy, but I can’t tell you how, or why.”

“Is it dangerous?” Sheppard asked. “When this happened with McKay-”

“Entirely different situation. McKay was rapidly evolving, every area of his brain was being overtaxed. From what I can tell, this is the only development, and it shouldn’t have any adverse affects. But I should tell you that I am completely out of my depth here. I’d like to have a real neurologist come from Earth and have a look at you both.”

“I’ll let them know at the next scheduled check in,” Sheppard said.

“Speaking of… I’d like you both back in here every 12 hours. I don’t think we have anything to worry about, but I want to catch anything at the first sign.”

“ _Colonel Sheppard, Dr. Keller, please report to Section 2, subsection 14,_ ” Banks’ voice said over city-wide.

“Sounds like Rodney’s got the second chair ready to go,” Sheppard said. He nudged Lorne. “Want to tag along?”

“Nah, maybe next time. Let me know if you need anything.”

*

Sheppard and Keller arrived some fifteen minutes later – the third chair was located nowhere near a transporter – and found a very impatient Rodney waiting for them.

“About time you got here,” he said. “I need you to sit in the chair.”

“Why don’t you do it?” John asked.

“Because you are much better at initializing Ancient technology that I am.”

“Just sit in the chair, Rodney,” Radek said, and by the sound of it, he’d been saying the same thing for several minutes.

“The city wants you in this chair,” Sheppard said. “I can probably do it, but I’m sure you’ll handle it better.”

Keller frowned. “I’m not so sure this is a good idea. Until we know more about your telepathy, I don’t know if we should add another person to the mix.”

“Telepathy?” Rodney and Zelenka asked in unison.

Sheppard sighed. “Lorne and I have, apparently, been communicating without talking. For several days.”

“Mind reading is so annoying,” Rodney said.

“It’s not really mind reading. I have no idea what you all are thinking. We were just talking, but not out loud.”

“That’s not so bad,” Radek said. “You and Rodney do that all the time.”

“What?” they said in unison.

“It’s actually quite disconcerting. I’m not sure we should encourage more of it.”

Sheppard shook his head. “As long as there he’s the only person connected to the city at any given time, he won’t become linked with us.”

“You’re sure of that?”

“Well, not definitively, but dozen of people sat in the Antarctica chair, and this never happened. It stands to reason that it won’t happen again unless those circumstances are repeated.”

“That’s not exactly good enough for me,” Rodney said. “I don’t want you and Lorne running around my head.”

“It’s not like that, Rodney.”

“No? I’d still rather not.”

John rolled his eyes, but sat in the chair himself. He has to push a little harder than he was used to to get it to come to life, and it’s not as easy to navigate as he would have liked. “I don’t belong in this chair, Rodney,” he said, but continued. “Anything in particular you’d like me to search for?”

“Nope. In fact, you can get up.” Sheppard sat forward. It was unusual for Rodney to be so quick to dismiss him; even back on earth he’d encouraged him to uncover as much as he could. “We just needed it initialized, to link long enough for the compute to extrapolate its primary functions. Besides, we’ve agreed to no unnecessary taxing of the ZPM until we have more charged.”

Keller stepped forward and took a few readings of John’s vitals. Satisfied, she left them.

“Radek,” John said. “Can Rodney and I have a moment?”

Radek rolled his eyes, but unplugged his tablet and walked away. “Take all the time you need. I’m getting coffee.”

“What is your problem?” Sheppard asked when he was gone.

Rodney was looking down at his tablet, paying as little attention to him as possible.

“Rodney!” he said, taking the tablet from his hands, setting it in the chair.

“What?”

“What is your problem?” he asked again. “You’ve been acting weird ever since…” Ever since he walked in on him and Lorne.

“It’s nothing. Doesn’t matter.”

“Rodney, we can’t function like this. We’re no good to Atlantis if we’re fighting.”

“We’re not fighting. I’m avoiding, and you’re pushing.”

“That’s not better. Just tell me what it is that’s eating at you, so I can try to fix it.”

“It’s not something you can fix. So why don’t you just run off to your new buddy, and let me get back to work.”

“Rodney,” he said, and he thought he finally understood. He leaned forward and pressed a light kiss on Rodney’s lips.

“What are you doing?” Rodney asked, a little dazed, when he pulled away.

“Me and Lorne… It’s not what you think it is. It was just a one-time thing.” And, okay, maybe he would have liked for it to be more than that, but he knew it couldn’t be, and he certainly didn’t want something if it meant damaging his friendship with Rodney.

*

Weeks went by. Things returned to normal. The telepathic link between Sheppard and Lorne faded – sometimes they slipped into accidentally using it, but mostly it was just there, in the background.

“ _Colonel Sheppard_ ,” Chuck said over the comms.

“Go ahead.”

“ _Sensors have just picked up three Wraith Hives, less than twenty minutes out_.”

“How is that possible?” He asked, jumping out of his chair. Rodney and Ronon followed him as he dashed out of the commissary.

“It’s not,” McKay said. “Sensors should have picked them up _days_ ago.”

They were in the control room within minutes, but it was minutes that they wouldn’t be able to make up for.

“Fourteen minutes,” Chuck informed them. “I don’t know where they came from, how they snuck in.”

“I’ll be in the chair. Rodney, get me whatever intel you can.”

Rodney nodded, and John ran down the steps to the base of the tower, wishing that a transporter would bring him there.

He sat down in the chair, and it sprang to life. The city welcomed his embrace.

“Sorry, pretty lady, been too busy to give you the attention you deserve. And Rodney doesn’t want me wasting precious power. Now, why don’t you tell me what’s going on in that beautiful mind of yours?”

Her responses were sluggish, he thought, and it was a full three minutes – three minutes they didn’t have – before he realized that it wasn’t her, it was him. He didn’t have the processing speed he needed.

He scanned the central areas of the city, searching, until he found him. He turned on the innercoms in that one hallway. “Lorne, I need you in your chair,” he said calmly.

“Yes sir,” he heard Lorne say, before sprinting in the opposite direction of wherever he had been going.

Sheppard felt him engage a couple minutes later, and commended his speed.

“What’s going on?” Lorne asked in his head.

 _Wraith, ten minutes out, came out of nowhere._ John didn’t say anything, but Evan knew.

“What do you need from me?”

_Where they came from, how they got here without detection, what they’re doing here, how they found us._

With a second person logged in, the search went much faster, pulling unusual sensor readings no one noticed.

“Why didn’t she tell us?” John asked.

_Didn’t know, didn’t recognize the energy signature, looked like space junk. Processing…_

“They will be in weapons range in two minutes,” Evan said, a moment before Rodney said the same thing over comms.

John reached to his ear, intent on talking to Rodney, only to find that his earpiece was gone, must have been dropped somewhere - he didn’t have the time to deal with where. “Send out a message via city-wide,” John instructed. “Secure all equipment, get all personnel out of the hallways.”

John faintly heard Evan’s voice broadcasting the announcement, but it was far away. He focused instead on the thousands of images Atlantis was providing him, trying to discern something useful.

“Weapons range in, 5,” Evan said. “4. 3. 2.”

John saw the ships drop out of hyperspace right above the planet, and they start firing immediately. John knew he didn’t have enough drones to take out three hives, nor the hundreds of darts raining down toward them.

“I need men in jumpers,” he said, his voice calm and even, despite the situation.

“We have maybe six pilots,” Evan said. They’d been trying to get more ATA pilots for months, years even, but still received far less personnel than they needed.

“Get them in the air.”

He fired off a few drones, aiming for critical systems on the nearest hive, but darts crashed into them head on, sacrificing themselves. “Dammit.”

“Shield are holding,” Evan told him. “With this level of bombardment, when can probably hold out for a few weeks.”

“I would really rather not.”

_Processing…_

“This is a distraction,” John said suddenly.

“What?”

“I don’t… dammit.” He tapped his hand to his ear, forgetting that his earpiece was gone. “I’m transferring weapons to you,” he said to Evan, then opened the innercomms to the control room. “Rodney, I need you in the other chair.”

“ _What?_ ” Rodney asked, looking up as if speaking to a deity. “ _Have you gone insane_?”

“I don’t have the processing power to do what I need to do. _Now_ , Rodney.”

Rodney huffed, but ran for the nearest transporter.

“Radek,” John said. “We’re about to start taxing the ZPMs more than any of us would like. Would you kindly keep an eye on things, let us know if we start to reach critical levels.”

“ _Already on my way._ ”

“And-” John started to say, but Rodney beat him to it.

“ _Send Miko to the charging lab. If she can disengage the ZPM, we’ll  need it._ ”

“Is this a good idea?” Evan said a minute later. John didn’t have to ask to know what he meant.

“Probably not.”

“You and McKay already have the freaky telepathy thing going on. Do you really want to increase that.”

In all honesty, John wasn’t concerned. He already knew Rodney better than he knew almost anyone in two galaxies. They’re already gone for a ride in each other’s minds once or twice, this was hardly different. “I’m a little concerned about the affect it’ll have on the two of you.” It wasn’t that Rodney and Evan didn’t get along, they just didn’t really talk.

It happened sooner than John expected. He felt a surge of adoration for Rodney when he engaged the system.

Everything stilled for an impossibly long time as Rodney’s mind familiarized with their minds and the city.

“Oh,” he heard Rodney say. “This is… oh.”

Everything came back, and the mainframe jolted to life, information flying by faster than ever before.

“What are we looking for?” Rodney asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll know when I see it.”

“That’s very helpful.”

John smiled, hearing the roll of Rodney’s eyes.

“What he hell?” Evan said. “They’re gone.”

“What?” Rodney and John asked in unison.

“They jumped back into hyperspace.”

“They were winning…” Rodney said. “Well, they weren’t losing.”

“It was a distraction. And I can’t figure out what for. Rodney?”

Rodney shook his head. “No idea. I’ll keep looking.”

*

“Did I, or did I not, expressly state that none of you were to sit in the chairs without medical personnel present?” Keller all but shouted at the three of them.

“Technically, you didn’t tell me that,” Rodney said, raising a finger.

“It was kind of an emergency.”

“Would it have killed you to call someone down there? No, it would not.”

“Next time, I promise,” John said, half hoping their wouldn’t be a next time, but knowing there would be.

Keller pursed her lips at them, then returned to her computer, where their results were buffering. “As expected, you’re all showing signs of elevated activity in the hypothalamus and Wernike’s Area. It’s possibly more prominent than before, likely due to the fact that there were three of you this time. If last time is any indication, we don’t have anything to worry about, aside from a little telepathy, which is one of the cooler side affects you could have.”

“Speak for yourself, Doctor,” Lorne said.

“Hey!” Rodney protested. Evan just grinned back at him.

“As I said before, no Gate travel, get some sleep, check in regularly, and let me know if anything weird happens. And for god’s sake, get me a neurologist!”

“Working on it,” John said as they walked out of the infirmary.

“She doesn’t seriously expect us to sleep, does she?” Rodney asked.

“I don’t know about you, but I am exhausted,” Evan said.

“He’s right, Rodney. Get some rest. Teyla will wake us if the ships return, and if they don’t, there will be time to figure it out in the morning.”

*

A couple hours passed before there was a knock at John’s door.

“I can’t sleep,” Rodney said when it opened.

John motioned for him to come in. “Me neither. Something in particular keeping you up?”

“Yeah, actually. You kissed me. And I kind of ignored it because I couldn’t wrap my head around it, and well, you know how I feel about things that confuse me.”

John smiled. “Yeah.”

“But then, in the mainframe… everything seemed so clear. Was that… was it real?”

“Yes, Rodney,” he said, nodding.

And Rodney was kissing him, hard, to the point he thinks his lips might bruise.

The door slid open, and Evan was standing on the other side. His cheeks flushed, and he turned to walk away. “I’ll come back later. Or maybe not at all.”

Rodney and John simultaneously reached out to stop him, dragging him back into the room. It took all three of them somewhat by surprise when Rodney pulls him into a kiss. “I learned something interesting today,” he said, kissing Evan’s neck. “You’re actually very smart. Even if you waste that intelligence on woolly science and flying around in ships that go _pew pew_.”

John laughed, thinking about how very good this could be.

*

A while later, they were all lying, naked, in John’s graciously large bed. They were all getting rather sleepy, as the adrenaline of good orgasms wore off.

“I wonder if this is what’s going to happen every time we use the chairs,” John muttered offhandedly.

“The hypothalamus is responsible for emotions, sex drive, hormone release, and the like. The fact that it’s affected by the chairs is probably just a side effect, like the lingering telepathy,” Evan said.

“The simple answer would have been yes.”

“Yes, I think this will probably happen every time, unless we try very hard to make sure it doesn’t.”

“Where’s the fun in that.”

John suddenly started laughing. “I wonder if the Ancients did this.”

The three of them laughed themselves to sleep.

*

Evan appeared in John’s office the next morning.

“Come to apologize again, Major?”

“Only if you want me to, sir.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary. What can I do for you?”

“I was just wondering if… if you’d like to get lunch. I thought we could drop in to check on Rodney; I’m sure he’s neglected to eat a proper meal today.”

John smiled. “Sure, sounds good. Give me ten minutes to finish up this paperwork.”

Ten minutes turned into almost thirty, and by the time they fetch Rodney and get to the commissary, John’s stomach was grumbling, and Rodney was on the verge of a hypoglycemic fit.

They grab a few trays, pile on the food, then sit at a table near the window.

“This is weird, right?” Rodney asked after a while. They had been talking, and John thought it wasn’t weird at all; in fact, it felt as right to him as the first time he flew a plane.

“It’s more weird when you realize that we’ve been communicating silently this whole time,” Evan said.

“What?” Rodney said. “No we haven’t, we’ve been talking… oh. Huh.”

John chuckled.

“You’re doing that thing again, aren’t you?” Ronon said when he and Teyla sat down. “Talking but not actually talking.”

“Yeah, sorry,” John said aloud. “It’s not intentional, it just kind of happens.”

“It doesn’t have to be weird,” Evan said to Rodney, still non-verbal. “If this is going to keep happening, its easier to accept it than to fight it, right?”

“Hmm. Yes, I suppose you’re right. You’re smarter than I expected.”

Evan shrugged. “You’re less annoying than I expected.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rodney exclaimed, as John laughed.

“He means you’re a pain in the ass,” he said aloud.

They returned to normal conversation, making the extra effort to include Teyla and Ronon.

Until, in the middle of a round of jovial laughter, John stopped, dropped his fork. Something felt terribly wrong.

He was already out of his chair when Chuck’s voice filtered through his earpiece. “ _Colonel Sheppard, Dr. McKay, we’re getting some odd readings up here_.”

“What is it?” McKay asked, after tapping his comm.

“ _We’re not exactly sure_.”

“Chair, now,” he said, pointing at Evan. “Rest of you with me.”

*

“It’s the sun,” Rodney and Evan said at the same time.

“What is it doing?”

“Burning out,” Rodney said.

“Then why is it getting hotter?” John asked, then remembered. Burning out means expanding, getting hotter until it’s used up everything it’s got. “How do we stop it?”

“We don’t! There is nothing we can do to stop it.”

“Figure it out, Rodney,” he said. Then he reverted to telepathy. “Evan, we have you got?”

“The Wraith,” he said. “No, they’re not here, but when they were, they did something. I went over the sensors; there were odd readings in the vicinity of the sun at exactly the same time that the hives were over us.”

“How long do we have, Rodney?”

“This is unlike anything we’ve encountered,” Rodney said. “If I had to guess, I’d say we have several months before it becomes dangerous, but it’s going to be very unpleasant long before that.”

“You should recheck those calculations, Rodney,” Evan said.

“Oh no,” Rodney said, looking at a new display that had appeared courtesy of Lorne.

“What is it?” Teyla asked.

“The chemical reactions are happening exponentially faster than they should be. Whatever the Wraith did, it’s sped up the rate of decay. We’ll be lucky if we’re all alive in three days.”

“So we leave,” Sheppard said. “Fly the city out, pick a new planet, one who’s sun isn’t about to explode.”

“I don’t know if we have the power to make that happen.”

“Figure it out, Rodney,” he said, pushing him toward the transporter. “Evan?”

“On it.” A moment later, alarms began to sound. “ _All personnel please secure your work, power down all electronics, and return to your quarters. Dr. Keller, please have someone report to the chairs. Dr. Zelenka, you’re needed in the ZPM room._ ”

*

Rodney and John sat down in their chairs almost in unison. “Get me on city-wide,” John said. “Atlantis personnel, we are going to attempt to launch the city. We may experience some turbulence. Remain calm, and do not leave your quarters until instructed to do so.”

“I still don’t think we have the power to do this.”

“Start diverting everything we’ve got,” John told him. “Turn of everything non-essential.”

“May I also remind you that every other time we’ve done this, we’ve encountered problems.”

“I was the only one flying, couldn’t process everything that was happening. With you two, we should be able to fix anything before it becomes a problem, right?”

“I wouldn’t count on it. Our luck isn’t that good.”

“Hey, isn’t the city equipped with solar paneling?” Evan asked.

Rodney sounded exasperated. “Yes, but they’re not particularly powerful.”

“The sun is getting exponentially hotter, and we need every drop of power we can get; do it Rodney.”

 

By some miracle, they were able to power up the stardrive and evacuate the planet.

They disengaged from the mainframe, intent on returning to the control tower.

 _Stay_ , she said, drawing John back in.

 

“Did you feel that?” Lorne asked over their link.

Rodney nodded, and somehow it translated across, though neither quite understood it. “John?” When he got no response, he tapped his earpiece. “Sheppard?”

“He’s still in the chair,” Dr. Keller said. “He’s alive, but his heart rate his high and he’s non-responsive.”

*

 _I am old,_ she said _. I can’t do this on my own anymore. You must stay._

“John, what’s going on?” Rodney asked when he and Evan rejoined.

“She needs me to stay, keep monitoring systems while we’re in space. Too many things can go wrong, and she doesn’t trust her ability to catch them all.”

“Keller says you’re heart rate is too high.”

“I panicked, for a moment. I’m fine now. It’ll be okay.”

“You’re sure?” Evan said.

“Yes.”

“We’ll switch off, every few hours.”

“Okay.”

*

John watched Rodney and Evan exit the infirmary a while later, Rodney emphatically waving his arms, talking in their heads.

“Ugh, we don’t have time for this,” he heard him say aloud, pulling Evan into a nearby transporter. John followed them with the city’s eyes, to an unused part of the city. Evan pushed him against a wall, went down on him, brought him to the edge. Rodney gasped as he came down Evan’s throat.

John watched as Rodney sank to the floor, unable to keep his legs under him, and Evan stood up, bracing his palms against the wall, as Rodney undid his pants and took him into his mouth.

John thought this might have been the best thing, watching them. Evan thrusted against him, moaning, until finally he came too.

They took a few moments to collect themselves, adjust their clothing, before returning to the main part of the city.

John continued to sift through data. It was slower, without them present in the mainframe, but the city happily obliged his every request.

 

“Rodney, I think I’ve found a suitable planet,” John told him a while later. He sent the information to the workstation Rodney was currently sitting at. “Adjusting course now.”

“Excellent, I’ll look it over. How are you doing?”

“Fine, Rodney.”

“Respectfully, I have to disagree,” Keller said. “Technically his vitals are fine, for the moment, but they’ve been up and down a few times. Not to mention he’s been muttering what I can only interpret as gibberish for the last hour. I’m concerned what prolonged exposure is doing to him.”

“I’ll switch him out,” he heard Evan say over the radio.

“I can handle it,” John said. But a few minutes later, he felt Evan engage the mainframe. “Alright, transferring controls.”

He sat forward, and promptly fell to the floor.

“I’m okay, doc,” he assured Keller as she helped him up. “Just a little jelly legs.”

“That may be true, but I’d like to have you checked out before we make any assumptions.”

*

“I’m fine, Rodney,” he said, brushing away his hands. “Just really tired.”

“You’re sure?”

“Keller says the readings are no different than they were yesterday. I’m _fine_. I’m going to check on Lorne, then find a bed.”

“Yes, good idea.”

Rodney followed him into the transporter, and within minutes they were in the second chair room.

“Nu ani nua. Ebin, ah natar. Sa sa oh.”

“Was I doing that?” John asked, eyeing Lorne with a hint of uneasiness. Evan’s eyes were open, but they were glassy, like he wasn’t really there. He wasn’t talking to anyone in particular, and the sounds coming out of his mouth were wholly unfamiliar.

“Yes,” Keller said. “And it was just as creepy.”

“I don’t think it’s gibberish,” Rodney said. “I think it’s Ancient.”

“What’s he saying?”

“I have no idea. I can read the language, not interpret it.”

“Well, I’m certain that neither Lorne, nor I have the ability to speak it, nor do I have any recollection of doing so, so what gives?”

Rodney shrugged. “Best guess? It’s the city speaking through him. Without a linguist, I can’t give you any more than that.”

“I’d still like to limit any of your exposure. I’m putting a two hour maximum on chair time.”

“How long before we reach our new home?” Sheppard asked, nudging Rodney.

“Just under five hours.”

“Good. Just enough time for me to take a catnap before landing her.”

“Right, I’ll wake you when we need you.”

*

By the time he made it back to his room, his feet were dragging and his eyes were half shut. He kicked off his boots and fell face first into the bed. Feeling much too tired to jerk off to the memory of Evan and Rodney, he was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

When he woke, he felt a set of limbs clinging to him like a lifeline.

He rolled over to a face-full of Evan’s hair. Chuckling slight, he tried to detach him, at least enough to move comfortably. Evan started to stir.

“Wha?”

“Morning, sleepyhead.”

“Is it morning already.”

“I’m guessing not.”

Lorne blinked several times, then made a face of confusion. “How did I get here?”

“Good question, Major.”

“Sorry, sir, I honestly thought I’d made it to my own quarters.” He started to pull away, but John stopped him, taking his hand and linking their fingers together.

“Relax, Evan, I’m not gonna have you court marshaled.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired in my life.”

“Never pulled an allnighter?” John asked.

“Yes. This is worse.”

“The city is a needy mistress. It’s a good thing you and McKay are low maintenance.”

Evan chuckled. “Yeah, Rodney is _so_ low maintenance.”

John laughed along with him. “Hey, what time is it?”

Evan studied his watch for a moment, then moved so John could see, his own eyes too tired to read it. “You tell me.”

John hummed. “I’ve got less than an hour before I have to relieve him.”

“Mm. Do you need me in the chair for reentry?”

“Probably not, but I would like to see if things go a little smoother with two. Only if you’re feeling up to it.”

“I’ll do it, but I’m requesting off a week after all this is over.”

“I’ll give you two. May even take it myself. Teyla and Teldy can take care of things for a while.”

“Maybe we can even convince Rodney to leave things with Zelenka for a few days. We could explore the new planet.”

“Hmm. Maybe.” John placed a kiss on Evan’s temple. “Try to get some more sleep.”

They both dozed off for a while longer, until John’s watch started beeping, alerting him that it was time to get back to the chair.

“Time to go already?” Evan asked.

“Stay here,” John whispered. “I’ll call for you when I need you.”

“Mmkay.”

*

The moment John sat down in the chair, he immediately felt a jolt of energy. “Anything to report?” he asked.

“It’s been smooth sailing,” Rodney said. “I’ve been looking over the readings from the planet. It’s a fairly young system, probably wasn’t very habitable when the Ancients were seeding the ‘Gates, so it doesn’t have one. It has two suns, and four moons.” Rodney sounded excited by the prospect.

“What kind of effect does that have?”

“Not much of one. It’s sitting on the outer edge of the goldilocks zone, so despite the two suns, it’ll actually be quite mild in terms of temperature. Days are a little longer than we’re used to – thirty hours – which will be an adjustment, as will the nineteen hours of daylight, but I think we’ll manage.”

“Sounds good. Evan and I were thinking the three of us should take a couple weeks off, after his is over. Explore the planet, maybe? Find a nice beach or something.”

“You mean, get away from the city and see if we actually like each other, or if she’s just making us think we do?”

“Well, not exactly what I had in mind. Mostly I was looking forward to relaxing. When was the last time any of us had a break?”

“Mandatory rest day was three months ago.”

“And what did you do that day? Oh, right, sat in your lab.”

“I happen to like working.”

“Rodney. Get some sleep.”

“I’m not even tired,” Rodney said, disengaging from the system.

You will be, John thought to himself.

*

A while later, he felt Evan engage in the system.

“Rodney?” he asked.

“Sleeping like a baby,” Evan said. “How far out are we?”

“About four minutes. You ready?”

“Absolutely. Hey, are these things pumping stims into us or something?”

“I was wondering the same thing, but I think Keller would have mentioned if they were.”

“Atlantis personnel,” Evan said over city-wide. “Prepare for reentry.”

Landing the city with two, John thought, was much easier than doing so alone. It was hard for one person to focus on all the things that needed to be done, but the Evan handling half the controls – well, it still felt a bit like trying to control a humvee with a balloon, but the landing felt much smoother.

*

“I suppose this means we’ve landed,” Rodney mumbled when John and Evan fell into bed on either side of him. “I’m a tad surprised she let you both go. I thought we’d be doing 12 hour rotations for the rest of our lives.”

“I’m sure she would love nothing more. But I think she understands that it isn’t a reasonable request.”

Rodney sat up. “I have to reconfigure the ‘Gate.”

“Zelenka’s got in under control,” Evan said, pulling him back down.

“Go to sleep, Rodney.”

*

_Several months later_

“Zelenka tells me you’ve finally unearthed the fourth chair,” Lorne said, falling in step on Rodney’s right.

“Hmm? Oh, yes. We’ve been unable to get it up and running though. And even if we were, I’m not sure who we’d put in it. There is no one else the city is particularly fond of, and I’m hesitant to let some grunt with limited higher brain function into my head. It’s bad enough you two have the all access pass.”

“Love you too, Rodney,” he said over his shoulder as he turned down the hall toward the jumper bay.

“Hey, where are you off to?”

“Mainland. Dr. Parrish wants to sniff around the plants. I think he’s hoping to find some new produce options.”

“I could go for something raspberry-like.”

“I’ll keep an eye out.”

*

“Just for a few minutes,” John said when he sat down in the chair for the first time since landing the city.

 _I’ve missed you, John_.

He felt the other two chairs activate almost simultaneously.

“Sorry,” Rodney said. “I just-”

“It’s okay, Rodney,” John said, reaching out to him with his mind. He thinks he gets it – he’s never felt so loved as when he’s connected to Rodney and Evan, and Atlantis; he suspects they feel the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written in under 48 hours, and is almost completely unbeta'd, as such, any and all mistakes are a result of sleep deprivation and my being too stubborn to read through it again right now.
> 
> Also, yes, this was vaguely inspired by Indelible by shaenie.


End file.
